California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 881

Introduced by Assembly Member Cristina Garcia

February 26, 2015

An act to amend Section 48900 of the Education Code, relating to pupils.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 881, as introduced, Cristina Garcia. Pupils: grounds for suspension and expulsion: bullying.

Existing law prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school determines that the pupil has committed any of various specified acts, including, but not limited to, engaging in an act of bullying by means of an electronic act. Existing law further defines “electronic act” as both the creation and transmission originated on or off the schoolsite, by means of an electronic device, including, but not limited to, a telephone, wireless telephone, or other wireless communication device, computer, or pager, of a communication, as specified.

This bill would instead, for purposes of pupil suspension or recommendation for expulsion from a school, define “electronic act” as either the creation or transmission of that communication, as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 48900 of the Education Code, as amended
by Section 1 of Chapter 660 of the Statutes of 2014, is amended
to read:

48900.  

A pupil shall not be suspended from school or
recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school
district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled
determines that the pupil has committed an act as defined pursuant
to any of subdivisions (a) to (r), inclusive:

(a) (1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause
physical injury to another person.

(2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another,
except in self-defense.

(b) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a firearm, knife,
explosive, or other dangerous object, unless, in the case of
possession of an object of this type, the pupil had obtained written
permission to possess the item from a certificated school employee,
which is concurred in by the principal or the designee of the
principal.

(c) Unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished,
or been under the influence of, a controlled substance listed in
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the
Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant
of any kind.

(d) Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell a
controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic
beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and either sold, delivered,
or otherwise furnished to a person another liquid, substance, or
material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a
controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or intoxicant.

(e) Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion.

(f) Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or
private property.

(g) Stole or attempted to steal school property or private
property.

(h) Possessed or used tobacco, or products containing tobacco
or nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars,
miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew
packets, and betel. However, this section does not prohibit begin insert the end insert use
or possession by a pupil of his or her own prescription products.

(i) Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity
or vulgarity.

(j) Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or
negotiated to sell drug paraphernalia, as defined in Section 11014.5
of the Health and Safety Code.

(k) (1) Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied
the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school
officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of
their duties.

(2) Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in
kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 3, inclusive, shall not be
suspended for any of the acts enumerated in this subdivision, and
this subdivision shall not constitute grounds for a pupil enrolled
in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to be
recommended for expulsion. This paragraph shall become
inoperative on July 1, 2018, unless a later enacted statute that
becomes operative before July 1, 2018, deletes or extends that
date.

(l) Knowingly received stolen school property or private
property.

(m) Possessed an imitation firearm. As used in this section,
“imitation firearm” means a replica of a firearm that is so
substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm
as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a
firearm.

(n) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as
defined in Section 261, 266c, 286, 288, 288a, or 289 of the Penal
Code or committed a sexual battery as defined in Section 243.4
of the Penal Code.

(o) Harassed, threatened, or intimidated a pupil who is a
complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary
proceeding for purposes of either preventing that pupil from being
a witness or retaliating against that pupil for being a witness, or
both.

(p) Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or
sold the prescription drug Soma.

(q) Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing. For purposes
of this subdivision, “hazing” means a method of initiation or
preinitiation into a pupil organization or body, whether or not the
organization or body is officially recognized by an educational
institution, begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert is likely to cause serious bodily injury or
personal degradation or disgrace resulting in physical or mental
harm to a former, current, or prospective pupil. For purposes of
this subdivision, “hazing” does not include athletic events or
school-sanctioned events.

(r) Engaged in an act of bullying. For purposes of this
subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1)  “Bullying” means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal
act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by
means of an electronic act, and including one or more acts
committed by a pupil or group of pupils as defined in Section
48900.2, 48900.3, or 48900.4, directed toward one or more pupils
that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one
or more of the following:

(A) Placing a reasonable pupil or pupils in fear of harm to that
pupil’s or those pupils’ person or property.

(B) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially
detrimental effect on his or her physical or mental health.

(C) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
interference with his or her academic performance.

(D) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
interference with his or her ability to participate in or benefit from
the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.

(2) (A) “Electronic act” means the creation begin delete and end delete begin insert or end insert transmission
originated on or off the schoolsite, by means of an electronic
device, including, but not limited to, a telephone, wireless
telephone, or other wireless communication device, computer, or
pager, of a communication, including, but not limited to, any of
the following:

(i) A message, text, sound, or image.

(ii) A post on a social network Internet Web site, including, but
not limited to:

(I) Posting to or creating a burn page. “Burn page” means an
Internet Web site created for the purpose of having one or more
of the effects listed in paragraph (1).

(II) Creating a credible impersonation of another actual pupil
for the purpose of having one or more of the effects listed in
paragraph (1). “Credible impersonation” means to knowingly and
without consent impersonate a pupil for the purpose of bullying
the pupil and such that another pupil would reasonably believe, or
has reasonably believed, that the pupil was or is the pupil who was
impersonated.

(III) Creating a false profile for the purpose of having one or
more of the effects listed in paragraph (1). “False profile” means
a profile of a fictitious pupil or a profile using the likeness or
attributes of an actual pupil other than the pupil who created the
false profile.

(B) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and subparagraph (A), an
electronic act shall not constitute pervasive conduct solely on the
basis that it has been transmitted on the Internet or is currently
posted on the Internet.

(3) “Reasonable pupil” means a pupil, including, but not limited
to, an exceptional needs pupil, who exercises average care, skill,
and judgment in conduct for a person of his or her age, or for a
person of his or her age with his or her exceptional needs.

(s) A pupil shall not be suspended or expelled for any of the
acts enumerated in this section unless the act is related to a school
activity or school attendance occurring within a school under the
jurisdiction of the superintendent of the school district or principal
or occurring within any other school district. A pupil may be
suspended or expelled for acts that are enumerated in this section
and related to a school activity or school attendance that occur at
any time, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

(1) While on school grounds.

(2) While going to or coming from school.

(3) During the lunch period whether on or off the campus.

(4) During, or while going to or coming from, a
school-sponsored activity.

(t) A pupil who aids or abets, as defined in Section 31 of the
Penal Code, the infliction or attempted infliction of physical injury
to another person may be subject to suspension, but not expulsion,
pursuant to this section, except that a pupil who has been adjudged
by a juvenile court to have committed, as an aider and abettor, a
crime of physical violence in which the victim suffered great bodily
injury or serious bodily injury shall be subject to discipline pursuant
to subdivision (a).

(u) As used in this section, “school property” includes, but is
not limited to, electronic files and databases.

(v) For a pupil subject to discipline under this section, a
superintendent of the school district or principal may use his or
her discretion to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion
that are age appropriate and designed to address and correct the
pupil’s specific misbehavior as specified in Section 48900.5.

(w) It is the intent of the Legislature that alternatives to
suspension or expulsion be imposed against a pupil who is truant,
tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.